Chapter Eighty-Eight: The Aircraft Carrier Program
"Everyone has seen that in front of fighters in the air, water ships are quite vulnerable. Pen Γ fun Γ Pavilion www. ο½ο½ο½ο½ο½ο½ γ info "Ciric presided over the meeting, and now he is still in charge of the Empire's military equipment.
"Yes, Ciric, we should reorient ourselves and develop our aircraft carrier formation." Navy Commander Erich said: "Otherwise, we will become sinners for Germany." β
"If we want to get rid of the shadow of defeat in World War I, we have to use a new combat mode." "The Navy cannot do without carrier-based aviation, and in particular, our aircraft carrier fleet will play an irreplaceable role in defending our interests in the Mediterranean and attacking Britain," Ciric said. β
After saying this, Shirek glanced at Hitler.
You know, Hitler was an absolute cannonist, quite obsessed with artillery, otherwise there would not be that terrible Dora cannon, it is quite difficult to get Hitler to change his concept, without Hitler's support, then everything is in vain.
And now, Hitler has apparently changed his mind.
"A strong empire needs a strong navy." Hitler said: "For the thousand-year fate of our empire, we cannot do without aircraft carriers." β
Although Hitler was a proud man, he was still very far-sighted, and now, those bombs that fell from the sky, it seemed that they were still shaking in front of his eyes, and he clearly captured something, without dive bombers, there would be no victory in the next war!
If you don't knock Britain down, it's not a victory!
"However, our designers have studied the drawings of the island nation's aircraft carriers and believe that their aircraft carriers are not suitable for the environment of the Atlantic." Admiral Alto Schnewand said.
"Yes, so, we're going to make a series of improvements." "If possible, the design of the British Royal Ark is the most suitable solution for us, but unfortunately, the British can't give it to us, so we need to make a series of improvements on the drawings of the Akagi," said Ciric. β
Ciric had already thought about it, and now, taking advantage of the shock of the dive bombing, he explained to the people present: "First of all, the hangar must be completely closed, we don't have to think about taking off directly from the lower hangar, that is a wrong solution, as long as there are three lifts, the plane can be easily raised to the deck." β
"Secondly, at the right end of the deck, a bridge should be set up, which is the most suitable position to direct the take-off and landing of carrier-based aircraft." "On the deck, there must be catapults to catapult our carrier-based aircraft easily and quickly, and, most importantly, the layout of the deck should be changed," said Ciric. β
When he was in the island country, Ciric put forward a lot of opinions, but did not say anything about this layout that was enough to affect the change of the entire aircraft carrier.
The current aircraft carriers are all through the deck, and the utilization rate is not high!
Now, it is a newly designed aircraft carrier, so it is more convenient to change the aircraft carrier to an inclined deck when designing!
In this way, the take-off and landing areas are separated, which can greatly facilitate deck operations!
Ciric explained to the people present, and everyone present affirmed Ciric's brain-opening idea, and Hitler made a decision on the spot, so he followed Ciric's plan!
"The full load displacement should reach about 30,000 tons, so that it can carry more than 70 combat aircraft." "If we have two such carriers, we will be able to encircle Britain, and if we have six such carriers, we will be able to cut off the transport routes in the Atlantic!" β
Historically, Germany did not have a single aircraft carrier, and now, Ciric's proposal is to have at least six modern 30,000-ton aircraft carriers!
At the same time, after the start of the war, there will also be quite a few escort aircraft carriers!
"We can't do without aircraft carriers, otherwise it's a complete dereliction of duty." Hitler said: "Cirek is right, we have to prepare immediately, and after the design is completed, we will start construction of our aircraft carrier this year, and I propose that our aircraft carrier be named the Count Zeppelin class." β
"Then our navy, do you want to transfer all of it to aircraft carriers?" Karl von DΓΆnitz, said cautiously.
This experiment was so shocking that even DΓΆnitz knew that dive bombing would pose the greatest threat to surface ships, so what about the other ways? Are they all outdated?
"Of course not." "Carrier-based aircraft on the surface have a huge operational advantage. However, aircraft carriers also have limitations. β
"For example, when the wind and waves are too strong, our aircraft carrier swings too much, and the carrier-based aircraft cannot take off and land, and once the aircraft carrier cannot take off the carrier-based aircraft, it will lose all combat effectiveness, and at this time, the battleship is still the king on the water. In our water formations, we must have both aircraft carriers and other warships. β
If you fully switch to aircraft carriers, then you will make new mistakes, if it is in the Pacific Ocean, there is no problem in developing aircraft carriers, because the Pacific Ocean is calm, and the climate in the Atlantic Ocean is harsh, and many times, carrier-based aircraft cannot take off!
"So, how about we put some naval guns on the aircraft carrier?" Defense Minister Blomburg had a whim.
On an aircraft carrier, place naval guns, turn into a hybrid product like a battleship and an aircraft carrier?
Hearing this, Cirek instantly remembered that the Kiev-class aircraft carrier of the later Soviets came.
From the Moscow class, to the Kiev class, and even to the later Ustinov, the Soviets took a mixed path, looking like an aircraft carrier, more like a cruiser, with a large number of weapons, nondescript.
Does this kind of stuff work? Of course not! As an aircraft carrier, it is to use carrier-based aircraft as weapons! The use of other equipment will greatly reduce the number of carrier-based aircraft carried by the aircraft carrier!
It can be said that the Soviet Union at that time was definitely influenced by Germany, you know, after the end of World War II, the Soviets obtained all the technology of Germany's Zeppelin-class aircraft carrier, and this aircraft carrier that was not built was such a nondescript thing at that time.
Some anti-aircraft artillery, is a must! However, the naval artillery thing, forget it!
"No, our aircraft carrier, it does not need to be equipped with naval guns, it only needs to be placed with some small-caliber anti-aircraft fire." "This exercise not only illustrates the superiority of the aircraft, but also exposes another serious flaw of our fleet, our anti-aircraft artillery, which is too backward for us to tolerate!" If we don't improve anti-aircraft artillery, then we will become sinners of Germany! β